Alessia Finotti

Dr. Alessia Finotti is Assistant Professor at the University of Ferrara (Italy), Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology. She obtained 2 eligibilities for the Associate Professor positions in General Biochemistry and in Clinical Biochemistry-Clinical Molecular Biology (2017). She works at Ferrara University since 2005 (from 2005 to 2012 at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, currently at the Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology). She is Professor of "Cellular and Molecular Therapies” and Professor of "Molecular and Recombinant Technologies" (Degree in Biotechnology/Pharmacy). Her research interests are focused on molecular basis of human cancer and hereditary diseases, gene therapy, pharmaceutical biology and pharmacogenomics. In particular: (a) study of transcription factors in gene transcriptional regulation; (b) study of microRNAs involved in human pathologies for the development of new approaches capable of modify gene expression; (c) biomedical and biotechnological applications of peptide nucleic acids (PNA) and structural analogues directed against mRNA and microRNA; (d) molecular strategy to modify gene expression in the treatment of cancer, thalassemia, cystic fibrosis; (e) PNA as molecular probes for innovative diagnosis tools; (f) biological evaluation of novel compounds as inducers of erythroid differentiation for possible use in the therapy of hematological diseases as beta-thalassemia; (g) proteomics and transcriptomics analysis in erythroleukemia cultured cells and in erythroid precursors isolated from beta-thalassemia patients peripheral blood; (h) Identification of changed levels in circulating (plasma) microRNA in auto-hemotransfused athletes; (i) in vitro diagnostic systems for colorectal cancer early diagnosis, prognosis, patient follow-up and therapy efficacy assessment based on molecular analysis of peripheral blood (liquid biopsy); (l) generation and characterization of transgenic mice for human beta globin gene with beta-thalassemic mutations; (m) Read-through strategy for the treatments of genetic rare diseases caused by nonsense mutations. She is the author of more than 65 papers published in peer-reviewed International Journals, 4 book’s chapters, and she is co-inventor of patents concerning the development of novel systems for nucleic acids/peptide nuclei acids (PNA) delivery. Furthermore, she participated as internal and external collaborator to national and international projects (FFC, PRIN, European projects, WADA program, CARIPARO, AIRC).